Tea bagging machine



Sept. 7, 1943- A. GAERTNER 2,328,639

TEA BAGGING MACHINE Filed July 2, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 BY Ado/f fiaerf/r r AT T N1: vs

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 A.YGAERTNER TEA BAGGING MACHINE Filed July 2, 1941 Sept. 7,1943.

INVENTOR. Ado/f 640/0 A T O RN E Y5 p 1943- A. GAERTNER 2,328,639

TEA BAGGING MACHINE Filed July 2, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet s 1N VENTOR.

Patented Sept. 7, 1943 Application July}, 1941, Serial-No. 400;???

' 2 Claims; (craze-5s) The present invention relates to a machine for packaging materials and specifically to a 'fm'achine for'packaging teain bags.

ticularly still, this invention is an improvement More parupon the device of Rohrijg; Patent No. 1,85 7,'662 filed February 6, 1931', andissued May 1932. In the patent justmentioned there is disclosed "a'nd'claimed a mechanism for winding a string about the neck of a tea bag in order thatthe ,tags which are attached to the strings may lie close to the bags and not become entangledwhen the tea bags are put in a'box orsimilar container.

In the Rohrig device the bag is held stationary and an annular brush is moved to position-surrounding the bag and rotated in order to. wind the string about the bag neck. The Rohrig device as well as the device of my invention is preferably formed as an attachment to or alteration of the general construction of the automatic tea bagging machine disclosed in the patent of Ralph N. Doble, No, 1,726,060, issued August 27, 1929.

The Doble machine as modified by Rohrig' has not proven completely satisfactory and my invention is designed to overcome the disadvan' tages of the Rohrig structure but is as has been mentioned above an improvement upon the general machine construction disclosed in the Doble patent. l T

It is an object of the invention to provide a packaging machine designed. 'to pack a commodity in a bagQto closethe mouth of the bag and to wind a flexible handle or string around the mouth of the bag and to place. the handle and bag in a condition ready for shipment when i it is discharged from the machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide an efiicient automatic machine having means for automatically windingthe string around the mouth of the bag which means shall be simple Lin-operation and shall not be subject to failure brought about by lack of tension upon the string during the winding process as. is true in the Rohrig device above mentioned.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a machine in which the tensioning means for the string is stationary and. the tea bag itself isrotatable in order to cause winding of the string or so-called flexible handle, about the neck of the bag.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear when the appended drawings are considered in connection with the following description in which: v

Figure 1 is a fragmentary viewof a tea bagging Figure l.

appliedthereto.

Figure 2' is a machine with the attachmentof my invention side elevation of the rnachine of Figure 3 is adetailed sectional drawing show-'- ing particularly'the mode of rotating the tea bag and the jaws for gripping the bag during rotating operation. In this'figure the parts are shown in the position'wh-ich they occupy prior to the winding or rotating operation.

Figure 4 is aview similar to Figure 3' but showing the parts in the 'position'w-hich they occupy at the completion of the winding' operation.

Figure Sis a view generally similarto Figure 3 showing; however; in addition to the parts shown "in Figure 3; the prior-step in the sequence of operations; namely the continuous string extending fromone bag to another prior to being'cut. This figure also shows'thestationary brushes which serve to maintain tension upon the string during the winding operation.

v y In general the machine of this invention is designed to automatically feed a predetermined length of filter paper gauze or the like through a supply roll and to' then form a pocket or a bag from this length of filter paper by means of a hollow plunger; through which plunger tea (in a weighed quantity) is fed at the same time that the bag is being formed. -'Ihereupon the par- .tia lly formedbag is seized; by jaws fixed to an intermittently rotating turret and is advanced step by step through portions of the machine which'serve to tie a string about the bag" neck, to tie a tag upon the string, t0 sever the string between each bag and'thesucceeding bag, to wind the string or cord about the bag neck, to cut off the excess material at the top of the bag neck and to discharge the completed bag from the I to their open positions so that a bag which has '40, in a'slot inmelnb'er 3i.

turret a string is attached to the bag and a tag attached to the string so that at the stage where my invention comes into play two bags, one of which is following the other'through the machine and'is, of course, in the pair of jaws next following those in which the first bag is gripped, appear as in Figure 5, namely with a string extending from one bag to the next and with a tag attached to the string between the bags.

.Between the two stages in the progress of the operation as just" above mentioned, there are supplied two pairs of brushes, [3 and I4, one pair bemg arranged with the bristles extending Vertically and the other pair being arranged so that the bristles of one of the brushes extend vertically,

while those of the other extend at an angle as is best shown in Figure 5. The brushes of each pair intermesh with one another as shownin Figure 5. It will be seen that due to this arrangement a particular bag will pass through the resilient bristles of the brush whereupon the brusheswill spring into their normal position and will serve of the machine to bring about movement of link and lever 2|, to cause the adjustable cutter blade 22 to descend and cut the string I5.

g Whenthe turret has progressed so that there is a bag in the position shown at the right in Figure 5, another cam 23 causes operation of a cam roller 24 mounted upon a bell crank lever 25 similar to lever l8. Lever 25 is in turn connected by link 26 to a lever 21 which latter lever is pivoted at 28 and terminates at its right hand end in a bifurcation as seen in Figure 2. The bifurcated end of lever 21 fits in a groove of a collar 30, which collar is slidable along aconstantly rotating memb'er 3|, this member 3| being driven by means of a pulley 33, fixed thereto. Member 31 is mounted in bearings in a bracket 32, se Figure 2, which extends outwardly from the frame of the machine. Pulley 33 is driven from the main shaft of themachine through the belt 34 which passes around the drive pulley 35 and the train of pulleys 35, 36a, 3! and a fourth pulley positioned behind pulley 31, as shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. 4

The jaws 38are pivoted,by means of pivot pins The upward ends of the jaws 38 are notched as shown in Figure 3 sothat leaf springs 4 l, likewise fastened to mem ber 3|, exert pressure to cause the jaws to be normally open." V I However, upon operation of lever 2'! by'means of the cam arrangement previously described, the collar or'sleeve 30 is lowered to'force the jaws together thereby causing the serrated ends of the jaws 33 to grip the upper extremity of the tea bag' whereupon, due to the continuous rotation'of the jaws 38, together with member 3!, the tea bag iscaused to spin rapidly causing the cord or string I5 to be wound tightly about the opened to release the bag. The string is held taut during this spinning operation by brushes I3 and M.

The machine is properly timed so that upon the completion of the winding operation and' of the tea bag moves against the stationary knife 42 fixed to the frame of the machine as best shown in Figure 4. The configuration of this knife is such that it extends at an angle to the 'or' other suitable container. 'that a guide bracket 43 is provided as well as a pair of guide plates M and 45 the latter of'which are spaced apart to permit'the neck of the tea bag to pass between them. These plates thus prevent the tag and string from moving upwardly and becoming entangled in the gripping jaws 12 or in the jaws 38 while, of course, the bracket 43 properly locates the neck of the bag for seizure by the jaws 38.

While I have described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that modifications thereof may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. Therefore, I desire to be limited'not by the foregoing description but solely by the annexed claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A string winding attachment for machines for bagging tea or the like comprising a rotatable member having a pair of jaws pivoted thereon in position to grip the neck of a bag, meansfor opening and closing said jaws intimed relationship to the operation of themachine, means for constantly rotating said rotatable memberyand means comprising stationary brushes located adjacent said rotatable member'and in the path of a string on the bag to tension thestringwhereby said string will be tightly wound about the neck of the bag as the bag is rotated by said jaws.

2. A string winding attachment for tea bagging machines comprising gripping jaws'mounted' for movement toward and from each other and also mounted for rotative movement together, means for rotating said gripping jaws to cause winding.

of said string-about the neck of the bag. a w ADOLF GAERTNER. 

